From Minnesota to Utah!

[Sota166]

Hello Friends,

My wife and I will set out on out first overlanding experience this October! The highlights of the trip will include Ouray, CO, Moab, UT (White Rim Road and Shafer Trail), Salt Lake City and the Salt Flats, Jackson Hole, WY and Rapid City, SD.

I have a couple questions I'm hoping the community can answer:
- Will Ouray, CO be covered in snow the first week of October? I am hoping to checkout Yankee Boy Basin and take Imogene Pass through Telluride on the way to Moab. Are you able to free camp in Yankee Boy Basin?
- During our time in Canyonlands NP I have one campsite reserved. I am able to free camp outside of Canyonlands, such as on Safter Trail or on the north side of the park off the WRR?
- I would like to checkout the Salt Flats. I understand you can not camp overnight on them but are you able to free camp out of the park along the mountains? I realize there is nothing to do there. We would plan to arrive in the evening and enjoy the night sky.
- Will Jackson Hole be covered in snow in the middle of October?

We plan to mostly use a RTT but will Air BnB if we have to. Camping is somewhat new to my wife so Im trying to ease her into it and not camp in freezing conditions. I appreciate any advise or tips!

Thanks,
Brandon

 

[RainGoat]

My wife and I will set out on out first overlanding experience this October!
- Will Ouray, CO be covered in snow the first week of October? I am hoping to checkout Yankee Boy Basin and take Imogene Pass through Telluride on the way to Moab. Are you able to free camp in Yankee Boy Basin?
- During our time in Canyonlands NP I have one campsite reserved. I am able to free camp outside of Canyonlands, such as on Safter Trail or on the north side of the park off the WRR?

I’ll defer to the CO folks on the snow but UT is pretty good in October. Really cuts down on the tourists (though still pretty busy with Europeans).

Not sure of your route but if Medano Pass dropping into Great Sand Dunes NP in CO fits, I’d include it. Should be able to dispersed camp along it as well.

I believe you can camp along Imogene but it would be largely trailside. I did it a decade ago but things were much less popular then, hopefully someone more current will chime in.

Are you planning on running the White Rim or just peeking in from one side? What campsite did you reserve there? You should be able to dispersed camp North/NW of the Islands in the Sky entrance.

 

[Sota166]

I’ll defer to the CO folks on the snow but UT is pretty good in October. Really cuts down on the tourists (though still pretty busy with Europeans).

Not sure of your route but if Medano Pass dropping into Great Sand Dunes NP in CO fits, I’d include it. Should be able to dispersed camp along it as well.

I believe you can camp along Imogene but it would be largely trailside. I did it a decade ago but things were much less popular then, hopefully someone more current will chime in.

Are you planning on running the White Rim or just peeking in from one side? What campsite did you reserve there? You should be able to dispersed camp North/NW of the Islands in the Sky entrance.

Thanks for the info! I will look into Medano Pass. The campsite I have reserved is Labyrinth B on the north/west side. We plan to come in on that side and go out that way as well. We will also enter the Shafer Trail side just to play around for the a day or two.

 

[RainGoat]

Thanks for the info! I will look into Medano Pass. The campsite I have reserved is Labyrinth B on the north/west side. We plan to come in on that side and go out that way as well. We will also enter the Shafer Trail side just to play around for the a day or two.

I’ve camped at Labryrinth A & B before - it’s a nice campsite. The first time we just peeked in from that side & then went back & over the top to the other side. The 2nd time it was the start of a full circumnavigation, seeing Taylor Cyn & camping at Airport on the other side. I can’t recall if we fit Lathrop Cyn in that day or the next morning. There is a big sandy wash with super fine & loose sand just after Labyrinth-I found Taylor Cyn was excellent training for it as I crossed progressively deeper sandy washes until they were bigger than my truck & it gave me confidence for the big wash after Labyrinth. That said I was in a largely stock ‘02 Pathfinder so you should be just fine (I was fairly new then ~’03, so it was a learning experience for me).

I did Medano a couple years later & remember it as quite pleasant. It has a fair number of water crossings but they should be shallow enough in October (I think I was Sept in the same Pathy). There is also loose sand as you come into the NP. A guy in a Ram 2500 delivery van had gone ahead of me & made it until the loose sand where I had to pull him out a couple times so, again, you should be fine.

Have a good trip & be sure to post a trip report here when you’re done so we can see how it went! Have Fun!!

 

[m_lars]

From a born and raised Minnesotan recently transplanted to Utah, check out expeditionutah.com for Utah related info. I actually find Utah overwhelming because there is so much to see here.

 

[Sota166]

I appreciate the replies and info. Thanks guys!

 

[Sota166]

From a born and raised Minnesotan recently transplanted to Utah, check out expeditionutah.com for Utah related info. I actually find Utah overwhelming because there is so much to see here.

I'm jealous of your move! Hopefully one day I can convince my wife to move out west!? Where in Minnesota are you from? Im originally from Winona but now live in west suburbs of Minneapolis. It is depressing how little or lack of trails there are in Minnesota. There is talk of a "border to border" trail from Grand Portage across the state to the NW corner of the state at the North Dakota/Canadian border but I think it's in limbo right now...

 

[m_lars]

I'm jealous of your move! Hopefully one day I can convince my wife to move out west!? Where in Minnesota are you from? Im originally from Winona but now live in west suburbs of Minneapolis. It is depressing how little or lack of trails there are in Minnesota. There is talk of a "border to border" trail from Grand Portage across the state to the NW corner of the state at the North Dakota/Canadian border but I think it's in limbo right now...

We moved from Fergus Falls which is about 2/3 the way to Fargo from the Twin Cities on I-94. It’s right on the boarder of the ND flat lands and MN lakes country. I tell people here we moved for the warmer weather, which was the primary reason for the move, because I always get an “are you for real” look. Even though there is hundreds of inches of snowfall in Park City, no one REALLY understands what cold is.

The lack of trails is rough, I’ve been into off-roading off and on for 20 years and have been on way more trails in the short time we’ve been here. But that’s easy when it’s literally 10-15 minutes to a trail as opposed to 2 1/2 hours! I can literally drive any direction from home and hit dozens of trails within minutes. And then there’s the iconic stuff that’s a few hours away...

I’ll check with my brother on the border to border, he’s in a group that has been helping with that project.

 

[m_lars]

There is talk of a "border to border" trail from Grand Portage across the state to the NW corner of the state at the North Dakota/Canadian border but I think it's in limbo right now...

I sent a text to my brother on the border to border, here is his reply.

A group of atv riders teamed up with some tree huggers formed a group in Cook county and named themselves “preserve our trails”, or something to that effect. They are pushing back making claims that millions or billions of vehicles are going to ruin the trail systems and thus, end the world... Ok, I may have over exaggerated a bit but their message is not much less exaggerated. We (Mn4Wda) are pushing back but it’s stalling the process on officially opening it. I’ve seen a few people have started traveling the route skipping the trail sections. Once you get in the tree and hills country the roads look pretty cool.

 

[PanCan Overland]

B2B IS moving forward.

Bryan from Minnesota Overlanders here - We're assisting MN4WDA with planning, clearing, signing, and establishing route. There are meetings to be held in the future - Planned opening in 2019. More to go, and yes, one county along the route has blocked the proposed route through their county.

Interestingly enough, theres a petition for opposition of the route stating the "ATV's are destroying the trails, peace and tranquility"... Opposition has painted the Overlanding community - aligning our hobby, our vehicles with that of ATV's, Crawlers, Bashers, and "hillbilly" off roaders...

Anyway, if need be, the B2B will take its route - along with any benefits to the economy of the county and re-route. Overlanders aren't concerned with distance - just makes it more interesting! The route is accepted pretty much the rest of the route at the moment.

Bryan

 

[m_lars]

B2B IS moving forward.

Has governor Dayton weighed in on the project? We know what happens when he doesn’t get his way!

 

[PanCan Overland]

Has governor Dayton weighed in on the project? We know what happens when he doesn’t get his way!

LOL

The route etc. has the funding. SHOULD be good to go. The MN4WDA and DNR were MANDATED to put together the route, plan, etc. https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/input/mgmtplans/touring/index.html

Just a matter of time and that one county from what I've heard. As I said, Minnesota Overlanders is getting much more involved in the very near future. I'll know more when I connect with appropriate peeps! Stay Tuned! :)

Bryan